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89Primate Conservation 2016 (30): 89-101

Going, Going, Gone...Is the Iconic Ring-tailed Lemur

Lemur catta) Headed for Imminent Extirpation?

Lisa Gould

1 and Michelle L. Sauther 2 1 Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada 2

Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USAAbstract: The ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) was once widely distributed throughout the south-central, far south,

and southwest regions of Madagascar. This species is known for its marked ecological plasticity and ability t o survive in a variety of habitats. Over the past decade, however, habitat destruction, forest fragmentation, hunting for subsistence or the illegal bushmeat trade, and live capture for the illegal pet trade have increased, resulting in extirpation or drastic reduction of populations through out its geographic range. Recent mining activities in one region have result ed in further serious threats to remaining populations. In this paper, we discuss (1) population numbers and information on population exti rpations, gathered over approximately the past

six years, to illustrate the alarming decline of this well-known lemur, and (2) how the formerly accepted geographic range of L.

catta now requires considerable revision. Population information was collecte d via on-the-ground surveys and censuses, or from reports by

researchers at 34 sites where L. catta is or was recently present. Only three sites are known to contain popul

ations of more than 200 animals. At 12 sites, populations number 30 or fewer individuals, and at 15 sites , L. catta has been recently extirpated, or populations are highly precarious and may become extinct in the very near future. Populations at three previousl y

designated range limits have been extirpated. Many populations are surviving in small, isolated forest fragments, allowing for no

male dispersal. With an estimate of just 2,000-2,400 individuals remaining in Madagascar, this iconic lemur may well become

extinct in the wild in the near future, or at the very least, exist at o nly two or three widely dispersed sites.

Key Words:

Lemur catta, local extinction, forest fragments, population decline, hunting, pet t rade † This paper is dedicated to the memory of Robert W. Sussman (1941-

2016), highly respected scholar and pioneer of lemur studies.

Introduction

Populations of the iconic ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) were once widespread throughout varied habitats in south- ern, southwest and south-central Madagascar, largely due to this species' considerable ecological plasticity (Sauther et al.

1999; Sussman

et al. 2003, 2006; Goodman 2006; Gould

2006; Gould and Gabriel 2015; Gould et al. 2015; Sauther

et al. 2015). Lemur catta inhabits at least seven distinct habitats (Goodman et al. 2006; Gould 2006; Cameron and Gould 2013), and is able to adapt to local environmental extremes and natural disasters, for example, arid open spiny

bush, with temperatures reaching or exceeding 45°C and with little available water (Sauther et al. 1999; Gould et al.

2011; Kelley 2011; LaFleur 2012), severe droughts (Gould

et al.

1999), and cyclones (LaFleur and Gould 2009). How-

ever, anthropogenic habitat loss in the geographic range of L. catta is steadily increasing (Sussman et al. 2003; Harper et al.

2007; La Fleur 2013), and in 2003, Sussman

et al. noted that remaining populations were unevenly distributed with very low densities. Since then, loss of forest cover through- out southern Madagascar has only increased, largely due to anthropogenic deforestation (Sussman et al. 2006; Bodin et al. 2006; Harper et al. 2007; Kelley et al. 2007; ONE et al.

2013a, 2013b), with little regeneration due to the xero-

et al.

2000; Fenn 2003). Average rates of annual forest loss

in protected areas (national parks and special reserves) in L. catta's geographic range were reported as 0.28% per year from 2000-2005, and 0.22% per year from 2005-2010 (ONE et al. 2013a, 2013b); however, these data do not take

Gould and Sauther

90
into account the considerable amount of unprotected area in which L. catta has been reported. Furthermore, an increase in serious droughts in the south over the past decade has also exacerbated habitat loss (Elmqvist et al. 2007; Tengo and von Heland 2014). Sussman et al. (2006) estimated that L. catta habitat loss totaled 10% between 1985 and 2000, with a 20% reduction in the total population. In 2001, Sussman et al. (2003) conducted a broad survey of L. catta in the south-western and far southern portions of its geographic range. At that time, forest fragmentation was noted as a marked threat to L. catta population survival. Since mentation throughout southern Madagascar has been docu- mented (Bodin et al. 2006; Harper et al. 2007; Cameron and ity, ring-tailed lemurs in some regions are able to live, and in some cases, even thrive, in small fragments, particularly “sacred forests"—small patches containing Malagasy ances- tral graves and tombs. Such forests range in size from <1 to

142 ha in the far southern Androy region (Tengo et al. 2007;

Kelley 2011) and 2 to 53 ha in the south central area of L. catta's geographic range (Gould and Andrianomena 2015; see Table 1). Sacred forests are normally undisturbed and can

L. catta

population persistence, reproduction and survival (Bodin et al.

2006; Gould and Gabriel 2014; Gould and Andrianomena

2015). However, the increasing fragmentation throughout

southern Madagascar in the past decade, as well as heavy hunting for the illegal bushmeat trade and capture for the ille- gal pet trade, have resulted in the extirpation or drastic reduc- tion of ring-tailed lemur populations at many sites where they are or were found (Sussman et al.

2006; Kelley et al.

2007; Cameron and Gould 2013; Sauther et al. 2015; Gould

and Andrianomena 2015; LaFleur et al. 2015; Actman 2016; Reuter et al. 2016). As a result, the IUCN Red List status for

L. catta

was upgraded from Near Threatened to Endangered in 2012 (

Andriaholinirina et al. 2014).

Historically, the geographic range of Lemur catta was broad, covering the southwestern, south-central, and southern portion of the island (Hill 1953; Tattersall 1982; Goodman et al. 2006). Its wide-ranging dispersal is due to its ability to survive and reproduce in areas that can be considered eco- logically marginal, such as spiny bush and spiny thicket, high altitude ericoid bush, small rocky outcrop fragments, and mangroves (Goodman et al.

2006; Gould

et al.

2006; Sauther

et al.

2013). Ring-tailed lemurs are not restricted by river sys

tems, and can survive in areas without a ground water source (Goodman et al. 2006). Goodman et al. (2006) also noted that since many river systems in southern Madagascar are without water for some months during the dry season, and since L. catta have been noted at gallery forest sites to cross these dry riverbeds, such ranging ability may have promoted wide geo graphic dispersal. However, continual anthropogenic habitat disturbance, habitat loss, and population extirpations have resulted in a much smaller geographic range than that out- lined by Goodman et al. in 2006. In this paper, we present L. catta population numbers and densities, or presence/absence information, mostly gath- ered over the past six years, covering 34 sites throughout this species' geographic range: south-central Madagascar, the far south, and the southwest. These sites include protected areas such as national parks, special reserves, and private reserves, as well as unprotected areas. We note the decline, and, inquotesdbs_dbs3.pdfusesText_6